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TO 



THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, 



ON THE 



SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. 



DELIVERED 



On the 4th of 7th Month, (July,) A. I>. 1833. 



EY 

EDWIN F. ATLEE, 3VC. D. 

OF PHILADELPHIA. 



PHILADELPHIA t 

PUBLISHED BY PARTICULAR REQUEST. 

Wm. P. Gibbons, Printer. 

i 

1833. 



AN ADDRESS, &c. 



->i> 



Fellow Citizens — It has been customary since the es- 
tablishment of the government of these United States, for 
the citizens of the Republic, in various sections, to meet 
together on the annual return of this day, to commemorate 
the glorious era on which that incomparable and illustrious 
band of patriots of 1776 gave to the world the declaration of 
our independence. 

As a remembrancer of times, circumstances and events, 
which in ages to come are to influence the destiny of this 
nation, and through it, perhaps, that of the governments of 
the whole civilized world, it is proper that we, who are peace- 
fully enjoying the inestimable privileges of that freedom, for 
the accomplishment of which our forefathers fearlessly staked 
their " lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour," should 
embrace the opportunity of so auspicious an occasion, to in- 
quire how far we have maintained and extended the happiness 
and security most likely to result from the steady pursuit of 
original principles. 

It is our design, on the present occasion, — 
1st. To inquire what were the fundamental principles of our 

Union. 
2d. How far, in the organization of the present government 

of the United States, these principles were maintained by the 

venerated framers of our Constitution. 
3d. What direful evil has, by them, through mistaken policy, 

been entailed upon the country. 
4th. How, and by what means, the nation may be preserved 

from the inevitable and untimely destruction which the con- 
tinuance of this evil must bring upon it. 



[ 4 3 

1st. The fundamental principles upon which was based the 
great struggle for our national independence, are those con- 
tained in the following words, put forth " By the Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
July 4th, 1776," viz.: " When in the course of human events, 
it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political 
bonds which have connected them with another, and to as- 
sume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature, and of nature's God en- 
title them, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind re- 
quires, that they should declare the causes which impel them 
to the separation. 

" We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal — that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights — that among these are, life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed : that whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a 
new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
will dictate, that governments long established should not be 
changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all 
experience hath shewn, that mayikind are more disposed to 
suffer, while evils are sujfcrable, than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 
the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- 
lute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their future 
security," &c. 

Thus, fellow citizens, did our fathers proclaim the self-evi- 
dent, and therefore unquestionable, truths, which present them- 
selves to the mind of every rational man who reflects at all 
upon the laws of moral and social happiness; and after enu- 
merating a long list of grievances and sufferings to which they 



[ 5 ] 

were unjustly subjected by the tyranny of Great Britain, aris- 
ing out of the total disregard of an unnatural government, to 
the inalienable rights of man, they further declared, that in 
the prosecution of their designs, they felt " a firm reliance 
upon the protection of Divine Providence." The blessings of 
millions of freemen have arisen in sweet incense at the tombs 
of the fathers of our liberties, for their heroism in maintaining 
unmoved " the glorious cause of equal rights" — the almost 
spontaneous voice of the people, has awarded them a niche in 
the Temple of immortality — their very ashes have been de- 
clared as almost sacred — and the air has been annually rent 
by the thunders of our cannon, in evidence of a nation's jubi- 
lee. The powers of poetry and oratory have been exhausted 
in portraying the characters of the assembled sages of '76, 
and the happiness and prosperity of our republican institu- 
tions. And yet in the face of all this, as if to expose us be- 
fore the nations of the earth to the extremest derision, there 
is engrafted upon our statutes, a system of oppression and 
despotism, unsurpassed by those of any people, civilized or 
barbarous. 

The whole of the movements of the then colonies in obtain- 
ing emancipation from the thraldom of Great Britain ; their 
defenceless condition compared with the strength and re- 
sources of the "mother country;" together w T ith their novel 
views of government and morals, had excited an intense inte- 
rest among the nations of Europe. Nothing but a total de- 
feat, followed by a still more onerous and degrading vassalage, 
was predicted for " the rebels" and contemners of " the divine 
right of kings." In short, the chances of success were so un- 
certain, that the stoutest hearts almost quailed, in the contem- 
plation of so unequal a contest. But the principles they pro- 
mulgated were those of immutable justice, and of inalienable 
human rights. They were content, therefore, to advance and 
abide the issue. 

2. Man, under the guidance of human reason alone, is 
mainly the creature of circumstances, changing his character 
and feelings according to the condition in which those cir- 
cumstances may place him. All history proves, unfortunately 



C 6 ] 

for the dignity, and superiority of intelligence which he clainis, 
that while adversity and persecution soften his heart, and 
produce benevolence towards his brethren, prosperity and 
power blunt the nobler feelings of his nature, and render him 
tyrannical. Notwithstanding the seeming sincerity of their 
movements, the honoured sages to whom was intrusted the 
framing (and adoption) of our Constitution, in the name of 
"the people of the United States," "in order to form a more 
perfect union, [than that attempted by the Confederation,] es- 
tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," — those very 
sages, from motives of worldly policy, and pretended expe- 
diency, authorized the perpetuation of usurpations, which 
themselves had declared to be contrary to " the laws of na- 
ture and of nature's God." It is true there were many among 
them who opposed, while opposition was available, the con- 
tinuance of such abuses as retarded the general welfare, and 
jeoparded the blessings of liberty. It is not enough for pos- 
terity to be told that the present government could not have 
been established without compromising the vital principles of 
our fathers. Better had it been for millions of our fellow men, 
if each state had been refused admittance into the Union, until 
prepared to conform to the spirit and letter of the Declaration 
of Independence. While we cheerfully unite in the expressions 
of gratitude for the inestimable privileges secured to some 
twelve millions of freemen, we feel compelled to protest 
against the entailment of an evil, authorized by the Magna 
Charta of which we so loudly boast. 

3. The evil to which we allude, and which our Constitu- 
tion perpetuates, is slavery. 

Whatever may have been the necessity, in the then existing 
state of things, for the formation of a General Government, it 
is deeply to be regretted that some clause was not introduced 
into the Constitution, fixing a time for the entire abolition of 
slavery. The glaring inconsistency of the toleration of so 
great an evil, led the friends of universal emancipation to 
espouse the cause of the oppressed descendants of Africa. By 



[ 7 ] 

their untiring zeal in combating the specious pleadings of cu- 
pidity and avarice, the public mind was enlightened to per- 
ceive the enormities of the system, and its abolition was pro- 
vided for in a number of the states, by their legislatures. Had 
the convention of delegates of 1787, maintained original prin- 
ciples in their purity, the nation might have been at this day 
a nation of freemen, uniting as the voice of one man, in hal- 
lelujahs for rights and privileges granted to no other people 
under the canopy of Heaven. To show the amount of des- 
potism practised by the freemen of this republic, we will re- 
view the census, as taken at the several times since the year 
1787. 

In 1790, there were 697,897 slaves. In 1800, 893,041. 
In 1810, 1,192,364. In 1820, 1,538,038. In 1830, 2,009,043. 
Showing the increase in 40 years, to be at the rate of about 
32 per cent. The annual increase of the slave population, at 
the present time, is not less than 60,000. 

Let us now examine whether the white population has ad- 
vanced in the ratio of the coloured, since the year 1790, in 
the slave holding states. At that time the whites numbered 
101, to 57 coloured persons; but in the census for 1830 they 
stood in the proportion of 101, to 63. Instead, therefore, of 
advancing, they have depreciated 6 per cent. 

The constant disproportion, and alarming encroachment, 
as to numbers, of the coloured population, induced a train of 
circumstances which early gave rise to discordant views and 
opposite interests among our sister states. The cause was 
diligently concealed as long as ignorance and sophistry could 
hold dominion. At length, (that is after a continuance in 
tyranny until the retributive justice, alluded to by Jefferson, 
appeared about to fall upon those who were so pseudo-repub- 
lican, inhuman, and unchristian, as to hold property in their 
fellow man,) slavery was acknowledged to be an evil which 
ought to be remedied. Yes, my fellow citizens, it was not 
until the number of slaves had increased from 697,897 to 
1,538,039, or in other words, after the expiration of 44 years 
from the Declaration of Independence, that a portion of the 
very people whose representatives in general congress assem- 



[ 8 ] 

bled, July 4th, 1776, had solemnly appealed " to the Supreme 
Judge of the world, for the rectitude of their intentions," in 
announcing the inalienable right of every man to freedom, was 
prepared to acknowledge that slavery is an evil, 

About the year 1820, there were discovered some leading 
men in the slave holding states, who appeared desirous of ap- 
plying a remedy. Long antecedent, however, to this period 
of time, there had issued appeals from some of the greatest 
and best of our countrymen, such as Rush, Franklin, Wistar, 
and a host of other philanthropists, on the subject of slavery, 
sufficiently powerful to have convinced the most obdurate. 
As members of " The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the 
abolition of slavery," &c, founded in 1774, while these states 
were still colonies of Great Britain, they had zealously advo- 
cated the cause of emancipation, and had shown the impolicy 
and inevitable consequences of the slave system. Let it be 
remembered that at that time slavery existed in all the colo- 
nies, and therefore they were as unjustifiable as we, in med- 
dling with " the delicate subject." Yet, relying on the justice 
and equity of their cause, they relaxed not in their efforts un- 
til a majority of the original states had made arrangements 
for its total abolition. 

Unhappily for the cause of humanity and of righteous go- 
vernment, the admissions granted by our Constitution, to the 
right of property in the bodies of our fellow men, opened the 
door to the reception of additional states into our Union, in 
which slavery was legalized. The blackness of darkness 
about to be dispelled from our horizon, through the instrumen- 
tality of the cheering rays of gradual emancipation, again 
arose, and has been rapidly accumulating, until its fearful 
portent threatens our beloved country with some dire convul- 
sion. Already have been heard the distant thunders of Divine 
displeasure — vivid flashes have been seen to cross and che- 
quer the black clouds which were gathering, with the in- 
signia of wrath. When our political firmament shall be- 
come obscured, — when the impending storm shall burst upon 
us, is known only to "Him who inhabiteth eternity." Yet 
may we experience redemption from the approaching de- 



[ 9 ] 

st ruction — our waste places may be rebuilt — our founda- 
tions raised up for the safety of many generations — our light 
may rise in obscurity, and our darkness be as noonday, if we 
repent of our iniquities, " break every yoke, undo the heavy 
burdens, and let the oppressed go free." 

The process of gradual abolition having been early adopted 
by several of the states, and before the influence of the slave 
system had become interwoven with their whole social fabric, 
has erased the foul stain from their statute books for ever. 
At this moment, twelve out of the twenty-four states, are 
free from legalized slavery. Shall ice, who compose the 
great majority of the sovereign people, and who know and 
feel the ennobling operations of unalloyed freedom ; shall we 
whose homes and firesides are the abode of contentment, and 
happiness — whose families and kindred may lie down to rest 
without the dread of insurrection and murder, from the vic- 
tims of their oppression — shall we, whose attachment to the 
Union must at least be as fervent as that of our slave holding 
brethren, and whose interest and deep anxiety for the perma- 
nent welfare of posterity must be proportionate to the bounds 
which encircle us — shall we cease to expostulate with the mi- 
nority, or to intreat them no longer to defy " the God and 
Father of us all," " whose justice will not sleep for ever V 
Never, until every human being within their jurisdiction shall 
be free. 

4. But, say the abettors of slavery, the evil has been en- 
tailed upon us ; — how shall we get rid of it without terrible 
consequences ? 

We answer, by total abolition. Not gradual, but imme- 
diate. Immediate., because the voice of justice demands it. 
Immediate, because every hour is adding to the mass of our 
oppressed fellow beings, whose cries and groans and blood, 
are calling unto God for deliverance. Not less than one thou- 
sand per week are added to the number of those, born "in the 
image of God," and heirs, and joint heirs with us in immor- 
tality, who are doomed, by our laws, to interminable degra- 
dation ; — whose bodies are classed with " the beasts that pe- 
rish," and from whose souls are shut out, by statute, the ravs 

2 



L 1° ] 

of intellectual comfort, and the beams of gospel consolation, 
to which every Christian is entitled. 

" Yet Afric's sons, the beasts of burden here, 
Freed from the lash awhile, prefer their prayer — 
Waft their deep woes in sighs unto their God, 
And groans, which pierce Compassion's blest abode." 

Shall the freemen of this nation listlessly look at these awful 
truths, without seeking the remedy ? 

We use the definite phraseology, because we believe no- 
thing but immediate abolition will meet the exigencies of our 
situation. By this we do not mean that the shackles of slavery 
shall be instantly severed, and the slaves cast out upon the 
country without the restrictions of wholesome laws. This 
would be turning a state of vassalage into that of licentious- 
ness, and accumulating, instead of lessening our calamity. 
In the language of one of the ablest and most learned of those 
connected with what are termed the "divines'''' of # the age, 
who now " rests from his labours," and whose works do fol- 
low him — the term is to be used relatively, as contrasted with 
gradual. " The meaning of the word, as used by us, is per- 
fectly clear, and cannot be misapprehended by any one : it is 
not to be made a subject of metaphysical animadversion : it is 
to be understood under the direction of common sense, and 
especially as modified and expounded by those statements with 
which it is associated : viewed in that light, immediate aboli- 
tion is not merely an unintelligible phrase, but one that does 
not warrant a particle of the alarm which some have affect- 
ed to take at it, and is not liable to any one of those objections 
which some have been pleased to make to it. To say that we 
will come out of the sin by degrees — that we will only for- 
sake it slowly, and step by step — that we will pause and hesi- 
tate, and look well about us, before we consent to abandon 
its gains and pleasures — that we will allow another age to 
pass by ere we throw off the load of iniquity that is lying so 
heavy upon us, lest certain secularities should be injuriously 
affected — and that we will postpone the duty of "doing justly 
and loving mercy," till we have removed every petty diffi- 



[ 11 ] 

culty out of the way, and gotten all the conflicting interests 
that are involved in the measure, reconciled and satisfied: — 
to say this, is to trample on the demands of moral obligation, 
and to disregard the voice which speaks to us from Heaven. 
The path of duty is plain before us, and we have nothing to 
do but to enter it at once, and to walk in it, without turning 
to the right hand or to the left." The first step to be taken is, 
to repeal every law which denies the slave the acknowledged 
rights of every man. Secondly, to open the way for his 
intellectual and moral culture. Third, to point him to the 
way that leads to present happiness, and to eternal peace — 
and to draw him near to us by the cords of Christian love: 
All this may be done at once, and all the fancied horrors of 
insurrection and murder will vanish into " airy nothing." If 
it be true that " righteousness exalteth a nation," then shall 
our beloved country, divested of this load of sinfulness, rise 
higher and higher, and approach nearer and nearer to the 
summit of earthly prosperity. 

To suppose that any other than total abolition, will afford 
the specific our national constitution demands, is to suppose 
that mere palliatives ever removed a malady. However use- 
ful and comforting they may appear for the time, the march 
of the disease is onward, and inevitable dissolution is the re- 
sult. The palliatives, in themselves, are nevertheless worthy 
of some consideration. Such is the consideration which the 
genuine abolitionist awards to African colonization. He be- 
lieves in the possibility of bettering the condition of the few. 
The mass of the coloured population, he knows can never be 
transported. In fine, his powers of calculation are bewilder- 
ed in the contemplation of how an annual increase of 56,000 
slaves, can be provided for in any distant colony? The average 
price of transporting each individual will, at the lowest pos- 
sible sum, be 20 dollars. This allowance we know to be too 
little by one half. But grant that it takes no more, the in- 
credible sum of $1,120,000 would be required simply for 
transportation, without the necessary appropriations for sus- 
taining the colonists until they were enabled to take care of 
themselves. This would swell the sum to at least double the 



[ 12 ] 

amount. Whence is it to be derived? And if supplied, re- 
member that 2,000,000 of our fellow men remain in bondage. 

As a means, therefore, of totally abolishing the evil, coloni- 
zation is incompetent. The condition of the jew, who by the 
benevolent intentions of those who are interested in the sub- 
ject, are improved, although satisfactory so far as it goes, 
can never make amends for the constant plundering of mil- 
lions of their most sacred rights — neither can it materially 
lessen the mass of crime and wretchedness, as it now exists. 
Abolition and colonization are distinct subjects — in their 
places, capable of much good. But when the friends of either, 
influenced by a " zeal without knowledge," denounce the 
other, evil may ensue to both. Our fellow citizens have the 
undoubted right to exercise their privilege to contribute to the 
advancement of either; and the advocates of each have the 
right to be heard patiently. The columns of the press through- 
out the country should be opened for the calm, deliberate and 
judicious consideration of the real claims of both. "An evil 
tree cannot bring forth good fruit," neither can malice, vitu- 
peration and slander be the fruit of good principles. In the 
discussion of the two subjects before the community at large, 
the champions of both sides have too often descended from 
the true dignity of the advocates of Christian benevolence, 
and losing sight of truth and soberness, have marred the beau- 
ty which each claims for its design. 

The main reasons urged, by the friends of colonization, 
against immediate abolition, are these. 1 st. They assert that 
" its effects would be to spread discord and devastation from 
one end of the Union to the other." 2d. That " the condition 
of the slave, suddenly emancipated, and thrown upon his own 
resources, is very far from being improved ; and, however 
laudable the feeling which leads to such emancipation, its 
policy and propriety are at least questionable." 3d. That 
" observation has fully convinced them that emancipation has 
often been injurious to both master and slave" — that " it is 
highly probable that the manumitted would not only be poor 
and wretched, but likewise a public nuisance." Again, " that 
it is not right that men should be free, when their freedom 



[ 1.3 ] 

would prove injurious to themselves and others.*' Our reply 
is, that the manner of observation used by them and us is 
very dissimilar. We have been made satisfied from facts 
which cannot be controverted, that no danger whatever is to 
be anticipated from immediate emancipation, as called for by 
us. We ask your deliberate attention while we recur to some 
of them. 

History informs us that after the instantaneous emancipa- 
tion of the slaves at St. Domingo, by the act of the National 
Convention of France, in the month of February, 1794, 
no such confusion and destruction resulted. Malenfant, who 
resided in the island at the time, says, " After this public act 
of emancipation, the Negroes remained quiet, both in the 
south and in the west, and they continued to work upon all the 
plantations. Upon those estates which were abandoned, 
they continued their labours, where there were any, even in- 
ferior agents, to guide them : and on those estates where no 
white men were left to direct them, they betook themselves to 
the planting of provisions ; but upon all the plantations where 
the whites resided, the blacks continued to labour as quietly as 
before. On the plantation Gourad, consisting of more than 
450 labourers, not a single Negro refused to work; and yet 
this plantation was thought to be under the worst discipline, 
and the slaves the most idle, of any in the plain." Lacroix, 
who published his " Memoirs for a History of St. Domingo," 
at Paris, in the year 1819, uses this language, viz.: — " The 
colony marched, as by enchantment, towards its ancient 
splendour ; civilization prospered ; every day produced per- 
ceptible proofs of its progress. The city of the Cape, and the 
plantations of the north, rose up again visibly to the eye." 
Vincent, who was a brigadier general of artillery in St. Do- 
mingo, and proprietor of estates in that island, at the same period, 
declared to the Directory of France, that " every thing icas go- 
ing on well in St. Domingo. The proprietors were in peaceable 
possession of their estates ; cultivation was making rapid pro- 
gress ; and the blacks were industrious, and beyond example hap- 
py" In Mexico, and in Colombia, the immediate abolition of 
slavery has caused no insurrections, but evidently increased the 



[ 14 ] 

stability of the governments. The slaves, amounting to 2,000, 
who had joined the British standard, and continued under its 
protection after the close of our revolutionary war, and who 
were manumitted by the British government, and settled in 
Nova Scotia, according to Clarkson, whose historical facts 
are beyond contradiction, " led a harmless life, and gained the 
character of an industrious and honest people, from their 
white neighbours." — "A large number [as free labourers] are 
now earning their livelihood, and with so much industry and 
good conduct, that the calumnies originally spread against 
them, have entirely died away." 

Joshua^ Steele, the proprietor of large slave estates, or plan- 
tations, in Barbadoes, and who had determined to test the 
influences of wlunyiry and involuntary labour, among the 
slaves belonging to his several plantations, by allowing them 
compensation, instead of applying the lash, declares, in a let- 
ter to his friend Dr. Dickson, " that during the operations un- 
der the premium, his people became contented, and in a little 
better than four years, the annual nctt clearance of his 'pro- 
perty was more than triple." That accordingly, " he soon dis- 
missed his superintendent." This experiment, made in the 
midst of other plantations, had no injurious effect upon the 
neighbouring estates, by the production of insurrection, &c. 

Having now produced such evidence as we consider 
conclusive, in proof of the position that the dangers ap- 
prehended from immediate abolition, are entirely ideal and 
illusory — we shall leave those who differ from us in opinion 
to pursue their own course, with the hope, that in ail their 
proceedings they may constantly remember the injunction to 
" do unto others as ye would wish them to do unto you." 

Fellow citizens — Let us once more turn our attention to the 
fact, that we are now convened on the fifty-seventh anniver- 
sary of our independence as a nation. Let us once more con- 
trast the principles we profess, with the practice we pursue. 
Let us, while we are rejoicing in our liberty, forget not that 
this " land of the free" is polluted by the footsteps of more 
than two millions of human beings, whose hearts dare not par- 



[ 15 ] 

ticipate with ours, in the song of freedom, and whose souls 
are bowed down by the debasing chains of slavery. 

Sons and daughters of Columbia ! shall revolving years 
bring no deliverance to the oppressed ? Shall all the tender 
ties which sweeten life, co?->tinue to be severed at the nod of 
tyrant man ? Shall that one spot, of ten miles square, within 
whose limits, meet the representatives of all the states, and 
over which they hold entire jurisdiction, be still profaned by 
marts and prison houses for the sale of human flesh and 
sinews 1 Shall thousands of a race, created with " a skin not 
coloured like our own," be still concentrated in this district, 
"where the sounds of the clanking fetters, mingle with the 
voices of American statesmen, legislating for a free people?" 
Shall all these flagrant inconsistencies, in the view of foreign 
nations, and more especially of the very government against 
whose usurpations, and whose despotic sway, our fathers 
fearlessly recorded their solemn protest, continue longer to 
draw forth the imprecations of insulted and indignant hu- 
manity? 

We pause for your reply. 

We beseech you, therefore, by your regard for justice and 
the rights of man — by your religion, and the enduring welfare 
of our common country — by your respect for yourselves, and 
your interest in the happiness of unborn millions, not to relax 
in the efforts of philanthropy, and in the vindication of equal 
rights — not to disregard the luminous admonitions of Sacred 
Truth — nor to stifle the rising spirit of pure patriotism: not 
to withhold your appeals to our brethren of the South, and 
your remonstrances to our National Councils, until the em- 
blems and horrors of slavery shall cease to exist, and the 
blood stains upon our soil be expunged for ever. 



54 W 








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